Love your Wife Day, Japan; Love your wife day

Japan -- Japanese men and women gathered in a park in downtown Tokyo on Thursday to shout and scream their love for spouses or themselves or to simply put themselves on the marriage market. In Japan, where modesty and reticence are traditionally valued over outspokenness, expressing love can be difficult.

That's why dozens of Japanese get together once a year at Hibiya Park in central Tokyo to yell "love messages" for their wives out into the sky - in an attempt to show their appreciation for loved ones in an indirect but bold way. Messages, such as "I love you" or "Let me be with you," which are seldom whispered by bashful Japanese, were yelled aloud by some 25 men and women on the event stage televised across the country.

Some of the confessions reflected the gloomy reality of the recession. One participant went almost tearful as he thank to his wife who's been unchangingly amiable even though he lost job more than a year ago. Others who bought their wives to the event ended up giving the biggest presents before the Valentine Day.

"My heart throbbed with excitement. His words stroke my heart," said a 38-year-old Ayako Kikuchi while holding hands together with her husband Kenichi who just finished yelling "Ayako, I love you" on the stage. The Love Message-Yelling Event, co-hosted by a citizen group "Japan Aisaika (pronounce ah-ee-sa-ee-ka, meaning "devoted husbands") Organization" to mark the "Love Your Wife Day" on January 31.

Local man Kiyotaka Yamana, who started the initiative after his own marriage failed, said he wanted to change the stereotype that Japanese men were not romantic. "The dominant image of Japanese men to the outside world is "overworking businessmen," but I wanted to tell people around world that Japanese men are actually very romantic," Yamana told Reuters.

And, some participants started feeling that sentiment expressions are actually refreshing.

"I feel refreshed and also warmed up after I yell, so, from now on, I'll tell my girl directly that I love her... but not this aloud," said a 27-year-old businessman Kenzaburo Cho after confessing love to his fiancé as yelling, "Stay with me for all your life. I love you."

Among participants were a Kimono-clad woman who said she was unmarried and loved herself the most. A single man who said he wished to have someone to live with amused the audience by crying out "Anybody. Please... right now."

Courtesy: digtriad.com

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